Murder Sheet: “Murder, Mayhem, and Mysteries in the Arctic: A Conversation with Attorney and ‘A Gift Before Dying’ Author Malcolm Kempt”

Release Date: January 20, 2026
Hosts: Áine Cain (journalist) & Kevin Greenlee (attorney)
Guest: Malcolm Kempt, former Nunavut criminal defense attorney, author of A Gift Before Dying

Episode Overview

This episode of Murder Sheet delves into the gritty realities of crime and justice in the Canadian Arctic through a candid conversation with Malcolm Kempt, who served as a defense attorney in Nunavut for 17 years before penning his debut crime novel, A Gift Before Dying. The discussion explores Kempt’s legal career, systemic issues facing far-north communities, unique courtroom stories, and the intertwining of lived experience with fiction. Kempt also shares insights into resource scarcity, social cycles of victimization, and the burden shouldered by legal professionals, all with a sharp sense of empathy and realism.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Life and Work in Nunavut’s Remote Arctic (03:25 – 08:08)

• Malcolm’s Unusual Path North: Initially with no plans for a legal career, Kempt wound up in Nunavut after sending a quirky job application.
  • “I did everything you’re not supposed to do. I put in a resume on colored paper. I had a picture of myself in the snow with it... Out of like 400 people, I got the job.” (03:45 – 04:15)
• Nunavut Overview:
  • Isolated, vast, and sparsely populated—some communities as small as 150 people (05:29–06:07).
  • Barren, arctic desert landscape; little vegetation; 24-hour daylight/dark seasons.
  • Adjusting to perpetual daylight is harder than enduring the long darkness.
    • “The hardest part for me was the summer... You get up to use the washroom at 2 in the morning and your brain sees the light coming in and thinks, oh, it’s daytime.” (07:29)

Empathy for Clients & The Human Side of Crime (08:08 – 13:22)

• Kempt’s Ethos: Even the perpetrators of violent, unfathomable crimes are rarely “monsters”; their crimes often emerge from cycles of abuse, addiction, isolation, and poverty.
  • “Most of the people, once you sit down with them and talk to them for a long time, you begin to realize that’s why they are the way they are. It doesn’t excuse what they’ve done... I’ve met, out of the thousands of people I’ve dealt with, maybe three people who... were unredeemable.” (09:16 – 11:08)
• Cycle of Victimization: Many offenders were once, and still are, victims themselves; high rates of substance abuse and a lack of resources perpetuate crime.
• Frontline Burnout: High rates of fatigue, mental health crises, and substance abuse among both community members and professionals.
  • Kempt’s coping strategy: take breaks, focus on small victories to find meaning (12:30).

Systemic Issues Undermining Justice & Wellbeing (13:22 – 14:44, 27:54–28:21)

• Resource Scarcity:
  • Geographic isolation, staffing shortages, language barriers, and limited infrastructure hinder the provision of addiction and mental health services.
  • No easy governmental fix; “complicated issues layered one on top of the other.” (13:48)
• Media Misrepresentation:
  • Oversimplification in news coverage does a disservice; true causes are deeply complex and intertwined (28:13).
    • “Every time you read about the new territory in the news, I feel like they try to oversimplify things and say this is the problem... when in reality, it’s an incredibly complicated problem on so many levels.” (27:54–28:19)

Life and Courtroom Stories from the Arctic Justice System (19:01–26:54)

• Relations with Police: Many northern police officers start careers there to access other postings, not as “punishment.” Jobs are stressful but well-compensated (19:48–20:42).
• RCMP as Sole Law Enforcement: No local/tribal police; community constables sometimes assist (21:00).
• “Air Justice” Circuit Courts: Courts literally fly into remote communities several times a year. Courtrooms set up anywhere available—school gyms, janitor closets, even bathrooms (22:09–23:27).
  • “Everyone would fly in together on a small plane... We used to joke it was Air Justice.” (22:09–22:40)
• Court Closely-Knit: Prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, and police all work in tight quarters; sometimes the jailer is needed to refuel the court’s plane (23:33–23:57).
• On Eyewitness Reliability:
  • Striking story of a shooting case where all the eyewitnesses corroborated an event that never happened—with strong sensory detail (like “smelling gunpowder”)—yet forensic evidence proved otherwise.
    • “Truth is a really slippery fish. In reality, our memories are so malleable... by the end of it, I thought, wow, she’s very convincing. But it turned out she’s fabricated the whole thing.” (24:13–26:54)

Social Issues: Suicide, Addiction, and Youth Crime (31:45–39:13)

• Suicide Epidemic:
  • Particularly among young people; described as "almost to the level now where it's an epidemic." Resources ill-equipped to handle outbreaks. (32:04)
  • “I've had coworkers, I've had clients in the middle of hearings commit suicide. I've had friends. It's just constant.” (32:04)
• Counselor Burnout: Not just a community crisis—frontline personnel also struggle and succumb to trauma, addiction, or suicide.
• Alcohol and Drugs:
  • Widespread binge drinking and increasing drug problem (meth, cocaine, pills smuggled by daily flights with inventive concealment). (34:03–35:22)
    • “If I drank [a] 40-ounce bottle I couldn’t get off the floor... But now you’re seeing the drugs, especially in a cal, meth is in, coke is in, these, the harder drugs are moving in.” (34:03–34:49)
  • Regulation is complex, inconsistently enforced due to lack of resources, not lack of laws. (35:36–36:22)
• Youth Criminality:
  • Under-12 offenders cannot be prosecuted; resources for family intervention are lacking. Children sometimes involved in distressingly serious incidents (38:13–39:13).

Reflections on Burnout and Transition to Writing (39:14–44:34)

• Leaving Nunavut: Covid-era travel restrictions made work impossible; burnout and remote hearings accelerated departure; writing was a long-simmering passion.
  • “At one point, I was traveling to the north and I was spending two weeks in a hotel room every time I wanted to do any surf work. So I felt like I was in a jail cell.” (39:21)
• Creative Journey:
  • Years of workshopping, short story publication, and pivoting material written over a decade into a cohesive novel during pandemic isolation.
  • Advice from agent Gideon Pine helped—"more heart" (46:00) and tighter narrative focus. Hard work, re-drafting, and targeted revision led to A Gift Before Dying's publication.

Blending Reality and Fiction—A Gift Before Dying (41:54–47:50)

• Novel’s Setting and Themes:
  • Explores burnout, unforgiving environment, and the search for hope/redemption amid darkness.
    • “It’s about hope in a really dark place, I think is the big theme in it.” (47:01)
• Characterization:
  • Lead detective is an amalgamation of many “Cole” types seen in the north—burned-out, searching for meaning.
  • Parallel stories of a failed adult investigator and a grieving child both seeking justice and redemption.

Literary and Pop Culture Tastes (48:35–51:05)

• Comics Fandom: Kempt is a lifelong comic reader (from classic Marvel to modern noir horror like Criminal and Fatale); credits comic shops as foundational in his youth.
• True Detective & Noir Influences: First season of True Detective was a major inspiration for the brooding tone of his novel.

What’s Next? (51:05–51:53)

• Upcoming Work:
  • A new detective story in a different setting—“police procedural, some supernatural undertones... a complicated mystery”—in progress.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Most of the people, once you sit down with them and talk to them for a long time, you begin to realize that’s why they are the way they are. It doesn’t excuse what they’ve done… but I don't think that they're wholly unredeemable.” — Malcolm Kempt (09:16)
• “Truth is a really slippery fish. In reality, our memories are so malleable. Right. It's all very fragile.” — Malcolm Kempt (24:13)
• “You want to help people... but you're stuck working in this glacial, moving, broken machine. And that's the really difficult part.” — Malcolm Kempt (27:04)
• “It’s about hope in a really dark place, I think is the big theme in it.” — Malcolm Kempt, on his novel (47:01)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• 03:25 – 08:08: Life and law practice in Nunavut
• 08:08 – 13:22: Empathy, the cycle of victimization, and burnout
• 19:01 – 23:27: Policing, circuit courts, and “Air Justice”
• 24:13 – 26:54: Eyewitness fallibility story
• 31:45 – 39:13: Social crises: suicide, youth crime, addiction
• 39:14 – 44:34: Burnout, the pandemic, and shift to writing
• 46:00 – 47:50: Shaping A Gift Before Dying for publication
• 48:35 – 51:05: Comics, noir influences, and small talk
• 51:05 – 51:53: Tease for next novel

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode is somber, reflective, yet shot through with empathy, dark wit, and affection for marginalized places and people. The hosts offer space for Kempt to unpack the complexities of arctic justice, never shying from the devastating personal toll of the work or the deeply entrenched social problems.

For those who crave unvarnished insight into life and crime on the far edge of civilization—filtered through the eyes of a sharp, compassionate observer—this episode delivers. And for fans of bleak, character-driven mysteries in striking settings, A Gift Before Dying should be on your radar.